Public Defenders Rebuke N.Y. Courts Return to In-Person Work

New York courts should delay requiring in-person proceedings, six public defender groups said in a letter to the state’s top administrative judge.

Plans announced by the court this week would expand in-person operations and, in some cases, require them. The defender groups said that could potentially put litigants, lawyers, and court staff at risk and asked Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks to delay the rollout.

“There is no specific reason that these mostly routine appearances should result in the endangerment of the health and well-being of anyone required to appear, including the parties and counsel,” the defenders said in ...